Digging Deeper
by ilovepuppies125
Summary: When Danny finally manages to stand up to Dash's bullying, Dash and Lancer start to get suspicious about our favorite halfa. Will they figure anything out? Will Danny be able to keep his secret?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Danny POV-

I was fuming, so far nothing had gone my way yet, and it seemed like my luck wasn't about to change anytime soon.

I had been fighting ghosts since 4 o'clock in the morning, leaving me with a grand total of three and a half hours of sleep (considering I hadn't been able to fall asleep until 1:30 in the morning), so, yeah, if nothing else, that would give me an excuse to be a little cranky, but things just kept getting worse from there.

When I came downstairs to breakfast this morning, my parents decided to test their new invention on me, little did they know how badly it actually hurt, and Jazz wasn't even their to distract them because she had spent the night studying at her friend's house the night before.

After that, I flew to school, and nearly fell out of the sky because I kind of fell asleep in the air. Thankfully, I managed to catch myself before I plummeted to the cement below, so far, that was the only thing that was going for me today.

On top of that, Sam was sick and Tucker was still on vacation until tomorrow, so I had no one to even help me get through this awful day.

And of course, in first period, Lancer decided to give all of us a pop quiz on the homework that we had the night before, which I hadn't done because I had been to busy fighting ghosts.

'_Great,' _I thought, bitterly, '_I already failed the homework, and now it looks like I'm going to fail this quiz too.'_ I struggled through the quiz, blindly guessing at the multiple choice answers because I had no clue what the actual answers were.

When I had finished, first I might add, I went up to Mr. Lancer's desk and turned in my quiz. I always hate being the first or the last one to turn something in because, at least in my case, that always means I didn't know the material.

"Mr. Fenton," Mr. Lancer said right after I had turned around to go back to my seat, "May I speak with you in the hall." Several kids looked up from their quizzes and snickered at my embarrassment, could this day actually get any worse?

"Mr. Fenton, you and I both know that you didn't know anything on that quiz," he pointed out.

"Yeah," I looked at the white linoleum floor, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"What has been going on with you lately?" he asked sounding genuinely concerned, too bad I was in no position to tell him my situation, "You are always leaving class, your grades are slipping, and you rarely do your homework anymore."

"Sorry Mr. Lancer," was all I was able to say. The bald teacher sighed and we both went back into the classroom where I quickly shuffled to my seat in the back corner of the class.

Finally the bell rang and we all filed out of the classroom. Mr. Lancer gave me one last concerned look before shaking his head and looking back down at the stack of quizzes we had all just turned in.

Oh, and just because the day couldn't possibly get any worse, Dash came looking for me.

"Fenton!" he bellowed down the hall and came running after me, probably about to take another bad grade he had received out on me, as if it's my fault he is stupid. I get bad grades too, you don't see me terrorizing the smaller population of the school for no reason. I swear, Dash just needs to grow up and start dealing with his own problems like a normal person. I heard his heavy footsteps still pounding on the floor behind me. I didn't turn around, I didn't run, I just stopped in the middle of the hallway.

Finally, when he was only a few feet behind me, I turned.

"What, Dash?" I glowered at him, venom lacing my voice. He paused for only a second before his classic sneer crossed his face.

"This D I got in Spanish means it's time for your daily beating, Fenturd!" he smirked, pushing me back.

I gritted my teeth, after everything that had happened today, I had finally had enough. Enough of letting him push me around, enough of being his punching bag. Without thinking, I pushed him back, shoving him against the lockers, waves of anger radiating off of me. I held him against the locker, a few feet off of the ground.

"Now, you listen to me Dash," I growled in a low voice, channeling my anger at everything that had happened today into this moment, "I'm sick and tired of you always pushing me and everybody else around. If you want better grades maybe you should just try harder, and when you get bad grades deal with them YOURSELF! Nobody else in this school cares about your problems and they certainly should not have to get beat up because of them!" I dropped Dash to the ground, his blue eyes were wide with shock, and stalked away to go to my next class period.

I suppose in retrospect, maybe that hadn't been the best release for my anger, but I was just so frustrated, if it hadn't have been Dash, I would have gone off on somebody else sooner or later. And after that I did actually start to feel a little bit better. Besides, the look on his face had been priceless.

Dash POV-

_'What the heck just happened?' _I wondered as I walked away from where Fenturd had just told me off.

I actually couldn't believe he had just done that, all this time while I had been beating him up he never fought back, he just took it, in fact, all this time I thought that Fenton was just as weak as all of the other nerds, but clearly not, after what had just happened.

_'He actually held me OFF OF THE GROUND!' _was what I still couldn't wrap my mind around. When did Fenton get so strong? Or how? Why would he choose now to fight back? Although, he hadn't really fought back, he just told he what everyone else was too afraid to say, not one punch or kick was thrown, even though I knew (now) that he easily could have punched or kicked me.

The scariest part, was that when Fenton had been telling me off, his eyes were GLOWING green. I had blinked really hard just to make sure I wasn't imagining things…and I wasn't, they were definitely glowing neon green. When he had released me, his eyes changed back to their usual light blue color, the color I had gotten used to seeing every time I had ever beaten him up or shoved him into a locker.

_'Something was definitely up with Fenton'_, I decided, I didn't know what it was, but I was going to find out.

…

Little did either of the boys know, Mr. Lancer had been watching the whole exchange from around the corner, and, he too, was determined to know the mystery that was Daniel Fenton.

**Bum Bum Bum, Chapter One. Will they find out or not? I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. Let me know what you thought of it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The next day…

Lancer POV-

I sat at my desk while my students worked on the assignment I had just handed out. After what I had accidentally seen yesterday as I was heading to the teacher's lounge, I studied Daniel Fenton a little more carefully.

So many things about the young boy just didn't add up, he hardly ever did his homework and he never studied…any good grades he managed to get on tests and quizzes seemed to be merely chance as he randomly guessed at the multiple choice. However despite these facts, Danny was obviously a bright kid. Anytime I would give the class busy work, he always managed to do well (at this point, all the busy work grades were probably the only reason that Danny was still passing my class). Then there was the fact that he was always falling asleep in my class. I often noticed how exhausted the boy looked (of course that still gives him no excuse to fall asleep while I'm teaching), and I wondered why he obviously wasn't getting enough sleep at night. In addition, Danny was constantly showing up late or running off to 'use the bathroom' during class.

Whatever secrets Danny might be hiding, I felt that I had only caught a glimpse of them yesterday when he shoved Dash up against the wall. That was not an easy feat, Dash Baxter is almost twice the size of Danny, and the fact that Danny was able to force him off the ground, was incredible in itself.

'_However,' _I thought to myself, '_Danny is not the same scrawny boy he was at the beginning of last year.' _ Because this was my second year teaching Danny (I had been asked to move to teach the Sophomore English classes at the end of the school year) I had noticed the boy change. I realize all of his odd behavior started in late November of last year, and in between then and now, Danny, although he was still somewhat thin and lanky, had put on a decent amount of muscle and even grown a little taller.

'_Whatever he is hiding'_, I decided, _'Tucker and Sam obviously know about it._' I recalled the many times they had covered for him and made excuses as to his behavior in class. I smiled a little to myself, at least Danny has good friends, I've never seen a group of students so fiercely loyal to each other.

'_And his parents obviously don't,' _I added as I remembered that every time I had called a parent-teacher conference, they were always outraged by his behavior. I wondered what could be so important that he would tell his friends but not his own parents.

I considered the possibilities, drinking or drugs? No way, Danny wasn't that kind of kid, from what I could tell, every time he left the room it seemed to be out of either a moral responsibility, or sometimes just plain annoyance, NEVER did it seem like he was leaving just to get his next fix. Plus, every student I had had who got involved in drinking or drugs, seemed to no longer care about school, as opposed to Danny who genuinely seemed to care about his education, but was unwilling to do anything to make it better.

'_Maybe there are problems at home?'_ I immediately scratched this thought out, I had met both of his parents many times and had never seen any of the warning signs that something might be wrong in their family. The Fentons seemed like kind-hearted people, strange, ghost-hunting people, but kind people nonetheless.

'_Bullies?_' I knew Danny had been having bullying problems before, but after what I saw yesterday, I see no reason that he couldn't stand his ground and take care of himself.

So once again, I hit a dead end and I was still no closer to finding out what Danny is hiding.

Finally, Danny got up and turned in his paper on my desk, he glanced at me curiously, "Mr. Lancer? Are you alright?" he asked.

I snapped out of my musings, "What? Oh, I'm fine Danny, now go sit back down." Danny sighed, but obeyed, once again taking his seat by the window. It was puzzling, Danny displayed genuine concern, for me, which was yet another sign that something like drinking, drugs, or abuse was not happening.

Just then, I saw a piece of paper flutter off of Ms. Manson's desk, and land on the floor next to Danny's shoe, he knocked his pencil off of the desk, bending down to pick it up as well as the note.

"Mr. Fenton," I called, "Are you passing notes?" I walked over to his desk and collected the paper from his hands.

"But-" he started but I cut him off.

"I will not have students passing notes in my class," I announced. Danny sighed and slumped into his chair. I noticed Sam give him an apologetic smile. Back at my desk, I pretended to throw the note in the trash (at this I noticed that Danny relaxed) but I actually read the note behind a folder on my desk. The note appeared to be a conversation between Danny and Sam, and I had missed them passing it back and forth when I was spacing-out thinking about what might be wrong with Danny.

The first line was from Sam, and was written in her neat handwriting.

_-Danny what happened yesterday?_

Danny replied in his much messier handwriting.

-**I had a sucky day. I was up all night fighting ghosts, and then we had a quiz, which I think I failed. But on the bright side, I finally stood up to Dash.**

_-What? How?_

**-Because I was already pissed off, he just pushed me a little too far and I kind of pushed him against a locker.**

_-What? Danny, that seemed pretty reckless, at least tell me his feet were on the ground_.

-I**t couldn't have been more than a few inches…**

-_DANNY! _

-**Look, I'm sorry okay, but at least Dash is a moron and won't be able to figure it out anyway.**

-_Fine, I hope so, for your sake. I mean, can you imagine what would happen if he did find out?_

_-_**He's not going to find out. I mean, come on, do you actually think that Dash would be able to piece it together to find out that I'm actually-**

This is where the note stopped, and obviously where I had picked it up from Danny. Now I was even more curious. _'Find out that he's actually, what?'_ was what I wanted to know, it was obviously something so bizarre that Dash wouldn't be able to figure it out, but if that was the case…what was it.

And judging by the way Sam worded the note, it had not been the first time that his secret, whatever it was, had almost been blown.

The bell rang and the students exited the classroom, I spared one last look at Danny before he left, before I sighed and continued my grading.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Danny POV-

'_Great, just freaking great!' _I mentally cursed, thinking about the way Lancer had looked at me as we all exited his classroom.

Sam studied me warily, probably fearing for my sanity, which, at a time like this, I would not blame her.

"I think Lancer's suspicious," I finally told her, sighing as we sat down at the lunch table.

"What makes you say that?" she asked sitting down next to me and pulling her ultra-recyclo vegetarian lunch out of her bag.

"Did you see the way he looked at me as we walked out? I mean we weren't exactly being careful in that note and Lancer is much more able to figure anything out than Dash is!" At this point my voice had gotten a little higher in panic. Sam put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes, her firm violet gaze holding me in place.

"Danny," she said quietly but firmly, "Calm down. You're going to be fine. Your secret is safe." At this, I relaxed a little turning back to the inedible food on my lunch tray.

"You're right Sam," I said, not only for her benefit but also for mine, I needed to assure myself that my secret was intact. I dug my fork into the brown mush even though I wasn't really in the mood for eating.

But then, of course, my panic was renewed by a single voice behind me.

"Hey, Fenton."

Dash POV-

I had avoided Fenton all day even after I failed my math class. I just didn't want to risk making him mad again, especially because, maybe now, he wouldn't hold back. However, I still needed to know what had happened yesterday that had turned my usual punching bag into an actual threat. I decide that the best way to get this question answered, would be to actually be nice to him and let him be able to trust me, no matter how far down on the social ladder it would cause me to drop. Finally, at lunch, I saw him sit down next to the Goth girl whose name I couldn't remember.

'_Now's my chance,' _I thought to myself, picking up my tray and walking toward the nerd table. I ignored the looks I received from my friends and the outraged gasps that came from the popular crowd as I stood behind Fenton. The eyes of the Goth girl that sat across from him, widened.

"Hey, Fenton," I said, with a silent gulp. He turned around to face me, his blue eyes focusing on me.

"What do you want, Dash?" he asked, a slight hint of hostility to his voice. He didn't like me, which, I guess I understood, I have been pushing him around forever.

"Um…actually," I muttered nervously, "I was wondering if I could sit with you guys." At this point the entire cafeteria had gone silent, everyone's eyes focused intently on the exchange between Fenton and I. Fenton, on the other hand, looked…confused, like he sincerely had no idea why I would want to sit with them.

"Yeah…I guess, Dash…" he said hesitantly. I grinned, and sat next to him. The Goth girl, Sam, I remembered, flickered her gaze from me to Fenton then back to me and back to Fenton. Then she slowly shook her head, as if trying to process this, and turned back to her food…was that grass? Finally, the rest of the cafeteria went back to their usual conversations. Fenton…hmm…maybe I should start calling him Danny…turned to me.

"So you just want to sit here…all of a sudden," Danny asked my, suspicion present in his voice.

"Yeah and I…wanted to apologize," I admitted quietly.

"You do?" he asked me, astounded.

"Yeah, listen Fenton-err, Danny, I'm really sorry for all the times I bullied you or shoved you into lockers or got you in trouble or—"

"Okay Dash, I get it. But if you continue to list everything you've done to me we'll be here all day," he said sarcastically, but his voice was no longer hostile.

"Oh, yeah, right," I chuckled a little, "There is one thing I want to know…"

"Yeah…" he asked, the suspicion once again rising in his voice.

'_Wow, is he always this suspicious,' _I wondered before continuing, "You've obviously been able to beat me up for a while, why haven't you? I know that if I was able to beat someone up everyday they were beating me up, I would have."

He sighed, "Because…I guess it's just because I know that fighting you won't solve my problems or make anything better."

"But, I would have stopped if I had known that you could fight back," I insisted.

He looked me in the eye, "Would you?" he asked, his voice void of all the playful sarcasm from before, "Or would you have seen it as a threat to your popularity and continued to fight me back until you could once again reassure yourself that you are the dominant threat in this school?" he asked.

I was about to argue but then I realized, he was right. There was no way I would have let myself be humiliated and beaten by a nerd and I would have kept trying to fight him, which means that our fighting would never end until at least one of us was in the hospital. Now I understood his reasons for why he didn't want to fight me back, but that still didn't explain so much about the black-haired nerd.

"You're right," I admitted, "So, thanks for that, I guess." Now he was genuinely surprised.

"Thanks? Thanks for what?" he asked.

"Thanks for not letting me embarrass myself, or putting me in the hospital, or letting me put you in the hospital," I shrugged.

"Um…okay, Dash, you're welcome," he replied. I looked my shoulder at my old table, they all glared at me, letting me know that I was obviously no longer welcome back. I sighed, that sucked.

"Hey, do you guys want to hang out at my house after school?" I asked.

Lancer POV-

I poked my head into the cafeteria just to make sure there weren't any food fights that I had to break up. At first, everything seemed normal, but then I saw something I would never have dreamed I'd see. Dash, sitting with Danny and Sam.

'_Lord Of The Flies!' _I thought, '_Things around here just keep getting stranger. Especially, after that exchange yesterday, why would Dash be sitting there?' _None of the faculty was oblivious to the bullying done, almost exclusively, by Dash Baxter, and to see yesterday, defeated by Danny, and today, shunned by his friends and seated with the exact student who defeated him, that was almost too much for me to be able to comprehend.

'_And thus, the plot thickens,' _I thought, feeling even more determined to know the secrets of one of my most secretive students.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Danny POV-

'_Did I really just hear him right? Dash invited Sam and I over to his house after school?'_ I thought to myself.

The suspicious part of me couldn't help but question his motives, I wondered if he maybe had some kind of prank lined up for me, but then, why invite Sam? Dash may be a bully, and an idiot for that matter, but he, I at least hope, knows better than to pick on a girl. I studied the jock.

I will admit that it took guts to come over here, and essentially, surrender his friends. I looked over at the popular table, which regarded Dash with looks of scorn. In a way, I felt bad for him, I mean, yesterday he found out that the wimpy nerd that he used to pick on, actually could have kicked his ass into last week, and today he looses his friends. I just wanted to know why.

I didn't ask him to apologize, and I certainly didn't expect it from him, and then he _thanked _me. I mean, _what was that?_ I almost asked him but then I saw that he still looked at me with a blue-eyed, almost pleading look, and I realized I still hadn't answered his question. I looked at Sam who arched an eyebrow in my direction as if to say, 'I don't care, it's your decision.' At that I sighed and turned to Dash.

"Okay, Dash. We'll be there," I told him. He grinned, which was weird for me. Most of the time when he is grinning he has just gotten away with bullying some poor kid, but now, his grin clearly indicated that he was happy that we could join him.

'_Seriously, what is up with Dash?' _I wondered. I half expected him to jump up and leave now that we had given him an answer, but he didn't he just continued to shovel the rancid mystery meat into his mouth.

When the bell rang, we departed for out next classes. Sam walked beside me. Once we were safely out of earshot, she turned to me.

"Okay, what _was _that?" she wanted to know, "Was he like…overshadowed or something?"

"No, he wasn't…and that's the weird thing, all that weirdness was completely Dash," I replied.

"Okay, then I guess the bigger question is, why?" she asked.

"I don't know," I shook my head, still confused myself. I stopped in front of my locker, looking around to make sure no one was there and then turning my hand intangible and reaching inside of my locker to get my books for my next class.

"All I do know is that we need to be way more careful now," I told her and we started walking back the way we came.

"Yeah, says the guy who just reached inside of his locker intangibly," she retorted sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

"You know I only did that because nobody is around," I reminded her but she shook her head.

"Come on Danny, you know you've been careless lately, especially with that little incident with Dash yesterday," she glared pointedly at me.

"Sam, you said it yourself, my secret is safe," I replied.

"For now," she added.

"Don't worry, it's going to stay a secret. Anyway, I've got to get to class. Meet you after school, okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, okay, Danny," she smiled, still shaking her head.

Lancer POV-

I couldn't resist, despite my better judgment, I followed Danny after lunch got out, staying behind a good twenty feet, just to make sure that I went undetected. I saw him and Sam stop at his locker and I ducked behind a nearby pillar. In the reflection of the trophy case, I saw, what looked like…

'_No, that can't be right,' _I mentally scolded myself, how would Danny be able to reach _through_ his locker? Once he collected his books, they once again started walking, this time towards me. I stayed behind the pillar, slowly, sliding farther out of view, around the pillar, with each step they took.

"…be way more careful now," I heard Danny tell Sam.

"Yeah, says the guy who just reached inside of his locker intangibly," she playfully scolded him back.

'_So that _is _what I saw,' _I told myself, _'But how is that possible?'_ I wondered. How would Danny be able to turn a part of his body intangible. I was hoping that maybe Danny or Sam would mention this, but they once again moved out of earshot within a few seconds. At this point, I had to step out from behind the pillar.

There wasn't much I knew about intangibility, but I did know, however, that it was a power that was limited, almost exclusively to ghosts.

'_Could Daniel be a ghost?' _I considered, before instantly shooting down the idea. No, I decided, Danny could _not _be a ghost, he was much too human for that. '_Maybe it has something to do with exposure to one of his parent's experiments_,' I reasoned with myself. _'However, my knowledge of ghosts is pretty limited. Maybe I should speak with the professionals, I'm sure they have some idea of what is going on with their son.'_

And with that, I had made up my mind and a plan was already set in motion.

Tonight, during an evening walk, I would go speak with Daniel's parents at Fenton Works.

Finally, the release bell rang and the kids shuffled out into the crowed hallways, pushing and shoving their peers to try and get to their next classes. I smiled to myself.

'_At least Danny got a head start_,' I thought, '_Maybe he'll be able to get to _some_ teacher's class on time.' _And with that, I shuffled down the hallway to my own class in order to start my lesson to a group of less-than-enthusiastic students.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Danny's POV-

"Tucker's going to be freaked out that Dash is now 'friends' with us, when he comes to school tomorrow," Sam smirked, like she was thinking about his future reaction, and, judging by the look on her face, she found it hilarious. The two of us were currently on our way to Dash's house. It was only about 6:00 but the sun was already low on the horizon.

"Yeah, no kidding," I laughed, "What time does his flight come in tonight, again?"

"Eleven, I think," Sam shrugged, sticking her hands in the front pockets of her hoodie, and shivering a little in the cool air. Now, that I thought about it, this was one of the coldest nights we had had in weeks, however, I didn't really notice. Ghost powers are useful like that.

I considered offering Sam my unzipped jacket that was hanging loosely over my shoulders (I had only brought it because my mom thought that I would need it), but, at that moment, we arrived at Dash's house. That is, if _house _is actually the right word.

It was huge. I mean, Sam's house is huge too, but only once you go inside. Dash's was the exact opposite. It was three stories tall and towering over the street where it stood on a corner lot.

"Well, here goes nothing," Sam groaned, as we ascended the stairs up to the front door.

_Ding Dong. _I heard the bell reverberate through the halls of the giant house.

After a few seconds, a blonde woman came to the door. She was a somewhat-wide-set woman with a kind face. I noticed that her hair was pulled into a loose bun and there was what looked like a guacamole stain on her apron, as she smiled at us.

"Oh, you must be Dashey's friends. Please come in. You know, I was soo excited when he said he was having some new friends over. All he ever has over are his football friends. And you dear," she pointed to Sam, "I was so happy when he told me you were a vegetarian, I have wanted to try out this lettuce wrap recipe for ages—"

"Mom!" I heard Dash's voice and heavy footprints down the stairs.

"Oh, Dashey, your friends are here," she beamed. Dash turned red in embarrassment, and I have admit, I found the whole exchange entertaining as I struggled to keep from bursting out laughing.

"Yeah, mom, I know," he grumbled, "Come on, let's go upstairs," he told Sam and me.

"Oaky dokey, honey, dinner will be ready in twenty," his mom called, walking off towards the kitchen.

"Umm…" Dash said, rubbing the back of his neck, still red, "Sorry, about that, she can be kind of embarrassing sometimes."

"That's nothing. Have you ever seen your dad try and suck someone into a thermos?" I asked, arching an eyebrow sarcastically.

"Umm…no. Your dad actually did that?" Dash asked, seeming astounded.

"Yes. To me. Not fun," Sam muttered, causing both Dash and I to start laughing but, that was pretty much the extent of our conversation because we spent the next twenty minutes awkwardly sitting in his upstairs game room, hoping that his mom would call us down for dinner.

The dinner was good, if you like lettuce wraps, which, of course, Sam did. Dash and myself, along with his dad (a huge man built like a brick wall with brown hair in a military regulation cut) mostly picked around the lettuce, eating the beans rice, guacamole and chips that were also on the table.

"So, what was your name again?" Dash's dad asked, directing a meaty finger at me.

"Danny, sir," I answered, not quite sure how to address him. He seemed to accept "sir" just fine as he thought my name over in his head.

"Last name?" he asked.

"Fenton," I replied, already anticipating the kind of response I would get. However, instead of the look of distaste that I had expected to get from Mr. Baxter, he simply looked at his plate like he was deep in though. Mrs. Baxter, however, reacted exactly the way I had grown accustomed to. The woman who had seemed so sweet, pursed her lips as the rice on her plate suddenly because very interesting.

"So your folks, they hunt ghosts?" Mr. Baxter finally said, not as an accusation, not in disbelief, but simply like any other question.

"Yes, sir," I nodded. Mr. Baxter nodded, taking a bite of the beans on his plate, and then looking back at me.

"When I was overseas, I saw a lot of things most people will never want to see. And I killed, or at least had a hand in killing a lot of people. But, it seems like, in places like that, the dead are everywhere. And, not just in the ground. You see 'um sometimes, glaring at you across the camp, watchin' you. They're not like the ghosts we have here. They look like the normal people there, you know? But then you look at their face and their eyes are just black holes. And they look at you like with one look they could kill you, and then you don't sleep, always thinking that they're leaning over your bed," Mr. Baxter said.

I didn't know how to respond to that. I think he meant to assure me that he didn't think of my parents as crazy, but he only succeeded in giving me chills. I'm not sure how I could deal with something more dangerous than what I deal with every day.

Mr. Baxter didn't look like he needed a response as he nodded once more at me and returned to eating his food, leaving the dinner, if it was possible, in an even _more_ awkward silence than it had already been in.

Finally, it was over, and Sam and I stood up to leave after thanking the Baxter's for having us and thanking Mrs. Baxter for the food.

"See you at school, Dash," I asked, almost like a question, still not sure how long this uneasy truce between us would last. Dash nodded, almost like he was relieved that we weren't mortified at the very idea of seeing him after we had met his parents.

It was dark now, and the streets were quiet and empty as I walked Sam to her house. She waved goodbye to me as she went inside and I continued toward home, kicking a stray can that was on the sidewalk in front of me. The can clattered loudly, landing next to the curb on the street. I sighed, picking it up and tossing it onto one of the open trashcans on the street, as I continued my walk. Finally, I arrived home.

As I walked up the stairs to my house, I heard a voice that was not one of my family members. I opened the door and found everyone seated in the living room.

I located the source of the voice.

It was Mr. Lancer. In my living room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Lancer POV-

Danny paled (even more than he already is) when he saw me in his living room, making me even more suspicious than I already was.

"Um…hi, Mr. Lancer," he forced a smile.

"I was in the neighborhood, and decided to stop by. The school has been thinking of teaching ghost attack drills to the students and I just wanted to know how you would feel about directing them, being that you are the most experienced ghost hunters in the area," I lied to Danny's parents who beamed in joy. The school was not thinking about administering ghost drills, but it did provide me with a more convincing excuse for suddenly appearing at their house at 8:30 at night.

"That sounds wonderful," Danny's mom grinned happily, "I have been thinking that the people of this town need to be better prepared in the event of a ghost attack." Okay, so perhaps the excuse worked a little _too _well, but, if they do end up getting caught up in this, I will tell them that funding got cut.

Danny seemed to buy the excuse, a little, because some of the tension left his shoulders, but he still regarded me warily. His sister regarded _him _warily, probably not buying my excuse at all. She always was the smartest girl in my class, and apparently, is the least-deceived person in her household as well.

"So Mr. Lancer, while you're here, how is Danny doing in school?" his mom questioned.

Out of the corner of my eye, I say Danny inch towards the stairs, like he was trying to make an escape, but, with one pointed glare from his mother, he froze to his spot. I could practically see him sweating with anxiety. And, I must admit, I felt some guilt about being the cause of this anxiety. Danny appears to have enough anxiety as it is, and now I am practically making him a target of punishment and criticism by his parents.

'_But,'_ I supposed, '_They do have a right to know.'_

"Well," I swallowed, "Danny is a very good student, if and when he actually applies himself. He usually knows what's going on in class, that is, when he isn't falling asleep, but then he doesn't even do the homework."

"Danny!" his mom exclaimed angrily, and Danny cringed guiltily shirking against the wall.

"However, Danny may not be the best student, but he always seems willing to help others. And, I recently noticed that Danny has begun to expand his social horizons as well," I provided. His parents, momentarily forgot their anger, and looked to me, inquiring to know more, "The other day, I noticed a…altercation between Danny and Dash Baxter," I continued, and Danny, who must not have known that I had witnessed this, became wide-eyed. "But, since then, it seems, they have successfully resolved the issue amongst themselves, and Dash, who is one of the so called 'popular' students at school actually sat with Danny and his friends at lunch. If this continues, I think that Danny may have singe-handedly bridged the social gap between the different ranks of students."

"And that's good?" Maddie Fenton asked.

"Oh yes, that would be something that hasn't been done in the history of high school students, ever," I embellished.

"That's my boy!" Jack Fenton bellowed, putting his arm around Danny, who looked very uncomfortable, not that I could blame him, he was practically being suffocated by his dad's massive form. However, I noticed, he was not being suffocated _nearly _as much as he should have been. It was subtle, yes, it would have to be, so subtle that if I hadn't been looking for something similar, I never would have noticed, but there it was. Danny was allowing part of himself to pass through his dad.

I decided it was best to try to migrate back to why I had decided to come here in the first place.

"So, if the school does, in fact, decide to do the ghost drills, we would need to know if any of the ghost safety equipment would be safe for the students," I said.

"Oh, of course it's safe. All of our equipment only works on ghosts, the most any student would get would be possibly a splatter of ectoplasm," Maddie told me.

"Hmm…" I nodded, "And, do you know if it is possible for any child to have an allergic reaction to ectoplasm?" I questioned. Maybe, there was a possibility that that is what had happened to Danny.

His mom seemed to think for a minute, "Well, we've never tested for allergies, but…it is the genetic makeup of ghosts so it is doubtful that anyone could be allergic to it…however I suppose anything is possible…"

'_Great,'_ I thought sarcastically, '_Now they are probably going to come to the school and run tests on the students to see if they are allergic to ectoplasm.'_

"If you don't mind, Mrs. Fenton, would it be alright if I could ask Danny and Jazz about how some of your inventions might have affected them?"

"No, go right ahead," she replied, like she wanted to hear their responses as well.

"Jazz," I started with his sister, hopefully so that Danny would not feel that I was targeting him, although, judging by the suspicious look he was still giving me, he knew that my appearance tonight was about him, "Have your parents' inventions affected you negatively in any way?"

Jazz scoffed, "Other than the psychological damage you mean? No, well, other than the time my dad sucked my hair into the Fenton Ghost Vacuum," she glared at her father.

"Danny?" I turned to him, "Have your parents' inventions affected you negatively in any way?"

"No!" he answered too quickly, "I mean, ugh, no, no, not at all, nothing wrong here," he chuckled nervously.

"Well," Maddie spoke up, "There were those times that some of our inventions singled Danny out as a ghost, as if that's not the most ridiculous thing on the planet, but we're pretty sure we have solved the sensitivity issue with those."

'_Hmm,_' I considered thoughtfully, '_Maybe…maybe Danny _is _somehow a ghost…no, that is not possible, if a ghost were living in a family of ghost hunters, even Mr. and Mrs. Fenton would _have_ to notice something sooner or later. But then why would their devices pick up Danny as a ghost and not Jazz?'_

I now had even more unanswered questions than when I came here, but, I had discovered one thing: whatever it was about Daniel, it was unlikely that it was from exposure to their inventions, and, more importantly, his parents didn't know, and it was pretty apparent that Danny wanted to keep it that way.

"Well, thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," I stood up, shaking their hands (and practically getting my arm ripped out of socket by Danny's dad), "I will let you know if the school continues on with the plan for ghost drills."

They showed me to the door, and said goodbye. I looked around them for Danny one last time, but he was gone, probably upstairs.

'_I would too,' _I mentally shook my head, '_at least now he's out of the warpath of his parents.'_


End file.
